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METRO VANCOUVER -- Drivers heading through the Cape Horn interchange in Coquitlam are finding themselves heading over the new Port Mann toll bridge by mistake because they can’t figure out whether to take Highway 7, 7A or 7B before it’s too late.

And with so many people complaining about it, Coquitlam council has penned a strongly worded letter to the B.C. transportation minister asking for better signage on the route to reflect the highway names instead of the route numbers.

“One of the big issues is they refer to Lougheed Highway as Route 7 and the Mary Hill Bypass as Route 7B,” said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart. “I informally polled half a dozen people and nobody got ’em right.

“That’s not what we call those ... . 7B is only on the map in the provincial highways department and the sign. Even my GPS calls it the Mary Hill Bypass.”

In a letter to the transportation ministry, Stewart said council has received “ongoing concerns and frustrations” from drivers who want to head along the Lougheed, Mary Hill Bypass or the Barnet Highway (Route 7A) but are confused by the route numbers at the Cape Horn Interchange and end up on the bridge.

Even senior staff members at Coquitlam City Hall have found themselves in Surrey by mistake. “It has been frustrating for so many people,” Stewart said. “If you’re trying to get to Coquitlam City Centre, someone will tell you to go north on Lougheed even though it’s Route 7 East and you end up on the bridge.

“It’s a great piece of infrastructure, but I think someone working on the signage perhaps has never driven it.”

Port Coquitlam resident Heather McKay Rossi has driven the same route between her city and New Westminster for 20 years and has found the changes confusing. She avoided the interchange during construction, she said, because ministry officials kept reconfiguring the road and she never knew which lane to take.

The situation has added 20 minutes to her daily commute.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Rossi said. “The fact that it’s confusing for us who have lived out here for a long time shows that it’s a problem.”

She argues all the signs should state “Coquitlam,” while other residents have suggested they read “Coquitlam City Centre.”

“The sign for the Port Mann Bridge says Surrey,” Rossi noted. “I drive that every day but even I don’t know how to get to the Mary Hill Bypass from the freeway.”

The ministry of transportation, which is responsible for naming those signs, has said its policy is to use route shields directing traffic to connecting highways. However, it has conceded it would add three additional signs that indicate “for Mary Hill Bypass — follow Route 7B” after receiving several complaints from residents.

But Stewart said while he is pleased about the Mary Hill signs — even though “frankly the writing is too small” — as well as a decision to add three Coquitlam signs at the east end of the Port Mann Bridge, it’s not enough.

Council argues the province has veered from its policy in the past by referring to Highway 1A in Abbotsford as Fraser Highway and to Highway 99A in South Surrey as King George Boulevard.

Plus, the Lougheed Highway, except for a short stretch near the Port Mann interchange, and the Barnet Highway are not B.C. highways within Coquitlam, Stewart said, but municipal roads, and he questions using a provincial route marker to direct motorists along them.

Council also added that during peak periods, drivers tend to drive faster through the new interchange, and worries that once the route is completed, motorists will have to “make the ‘right’ decision in less time, much sooner, and with potentially greater consequences of any errors.”

Rossi agreed, noting drivers on the Lougheed between King Edward and Schoolhouse, for instance, travel at a fast clip. “At rush hour you don’t have time to look at all the signs,” she said. “You have to know where you’re going … half the cars are slipping over into the right hand lane and then the lane ends. It slows it down.

“There’s going to be 15 overpasses in that area. They’d better get the signs right or there’s going to be problems. Once you take the wrong (exit) there’s no way to get back.”

Insurance Corp. of B.C. spokesman Adam Grossman said he doubts the corporation has received any claims as a result of the sign confusion.

Meanwhile the Transportation Investment Corp., which oversees the widened Highway 1 and the new Port Mann Bridge, said the signage leading to it clearly indicates Toll Bridge and Last Exit Before Toll Bridge.

“Access to the bridge is clearly signed and I’m not aware of any drivers who’ve misinterpreted those signs,” said spokesman Greg Johnson.

Transportation Minister Mary Polak was travelling and did to return requests for an interview by press time.

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